Hello! We are a US party of 2 who has never been to Europe (our prior travel experience is to Central America). After 2 nights in Rome, we are going to base ourselves out of Atrani for a few nights. We currently have a round trip private driver booked from our hotel in Trastevere to Atrani. We are reconsidering this arrangement and wonder if there might be a better option, considering the bad traffic on the coast. We are not savvy with trains, buses, ferries so we originally opted out of that scenario. But now we are reconsidering and wonder what someone with more experience might recommend for a Rome to Atrani route. Can anyone with experience on this route give us some ideas? We are traveling the last week of September 2023.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11466 posts
We did it years ago. High speed train (FreccciaRossa) to Salerno from Roma Termini, about 2.25 hours, then a bus to Atrani, about an hour . The bus leaves from the train station, so uncomplicated.
Find your train tickets on www.Trenitalia.com. Good discounts for early purchase but non-refundable. Bus, AFAIK, requires no reservation nor is it available. Buses run every 30 minutes according to online info.
FYI, I often start with Google Maps when I am planning a route to somewhere new. Surprisingly accurate although good to drill down with local sources especially in buses. In this case, I searched for the bus “5120 Salerno” and found a schedule, https://www.sitasudtrasporti.it/archivio/Download/corse/sitasud/Campania/Salerno/99dadb65-22e0-465a-8833-fd1f9188a3e7_5120_5110_5070_31_07_23.pdf/0. If you miss one bus, you take the next. Uncomplicated.
This will be a fraction of the cost of a driver and most likely a lot faster due to traffic, as you mentioned. Pack light! You will be hauling your own luggage on and off trains and buses.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
As Laurel said, Train to Salerno and another option to the bus is the ferry if your timing works out. 10 minute walk to the ferry dock then ferry to Atrani, 35 min.
Salerno (P.zza Concordia - Train Station) ➜ Atrani
09:40* - 11:40* - 14:10* - 15:30*
*change boat in Amalfi
35+5 min
€ 11,00
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you! These options are great, and I appreciate the travel planning tip @Laurel! The Salerno option looks appealing as it omits the Naples to Sorrento leg when travel west to east on the coast. Thank you very much! The trenitalia website doesn't seem to be working these last couple of days. Is that normal? Is www.italotreno.com a good one to use instead?
Posted by
georgetown, KY, USA
109 posts
Try this https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html Even though the site is in English you must enter the city name in Italian
Posted by
Washington DC
27396 posts
Italotreno is the website of the second company running trains in Italy. It will not list Trenitalia's trains, just as the Trenitalia website will not list Italo's trains. I'd want to check both to see which has the most convenient schedule for my purposes. A quick look suggests Italo doesn't have any weekday departures from Roma Termini to Salerno between 6 and 10:30 AM. Trenitalia runs a lot more trains, the fastest of which will save a bit of time compared to Italo's. But Italo may be a bit cheaper, and the Italo trains are reportedly very nice; I've never taken one.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7532 posts
The Frecciarossa train service is incredibly time-saving, but it's priced like airfare; advance discount, no changes, no refunds. Try to download the 2023 ferry timetable that is effective your dates-they switch to off-season around that time. Make sure you have sensible plans for your trip home, like at least a short stay in Rome again.
joy, for the benefit of others, would you please give the car service price quote? I'm sure it was staggeringly high.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks, All, for the great tips and advice! We used trainline.com to book a ticket through Salerno. That will be a great solution and manageable. I have used the SITA website to plan the last bit to and from Atrani. I had great difficulties with the Trenitalia AND Italotreno website and gave up on both.